What I like about International Food & Agribusiness is that it covers business within the specialised field of the agrifood sector. I find the world of agrifood deeply inspiring. Even if you might not initially have a passion for it, you will definitely develop this once you start the programme. Global agrifood systems are complex, involving many people from all over the world with different backgrounds, all working towards the same goal: feeding the people of the planet. And of course, food will never go out of demand; people will always need to eat!
Graduate Story Mariska
Hi, I am Mariska Krijnen and I graduated from the International Food & Agribusiness programme in February 2023. I would like to tell you all about my experience at HAS green academy!
Discovering possibilities
I chose the International Food & Agribusiness programme because I wanted a study programme that would allow me to combine my business skills, international work experience, and my interests in food, animals, and plants. During my first year, I spent a lot of time familiarising myself with the various aspects of the agrifood sector, since there are so many possibilities. The programme encourages you to discover your natural skills at your own pace, providing ample time and hands-on experience for exploration.
The agrifood sector
My ultimate goal was to work in Asia, and I was confident I could achieve this with the International Food & Agribusiness study programme from the start.
Working in Asia
I started my first year with an internship in Japan at a fruit orchard. After that, I was able to do an internship at Europe’s biggest retailer, Lidl. Specifically, I did my internship at Lidl Asia in Hong Kong. It was extremely educational; I led projects where I had to create new products for Lidl stores in Europe. Imagine creating a product that will be sold five million times! I could not have achieved this without this specific programme and its international aspect. I am currently pursuing a Master’s in Food Management and Marketing at the University of Hong Kong. This university is ranked the 26th best in the world, and even with an average GPA1, it was not difficult to get in with my International Food & Agribusiness bachelor's degree as I had a lot of internship experience (due to International Food & Agribusiness being a HBO programme). My ultimate goal was to work in Asia, and I was confident I could achieve this with the International Food & Agribusiness study programme from the start.
Valuable lessons
There is one thing, in my opinion, that makes the International Food & Agribusiness programme special. During the programme, you will have many relevant courses that you can apply straight away in real life. All the courses I have taken were useful in my internships and my first jobs. There was one in particular that everyone, including myself, was always joking about, but it turned out to be extremely valuable in my current career path. We once had a course where we had to perform an international negotiation. We would negotiate in front of a teacher against another student, and we would get graded. We both had to pretend we came from different companies and wanted to settle on a good price and other specifications. It was very funny doing this, but looking back, it was actually such a crucial lesson for working in sales or business. Even in your personal life, these skills are very valuable. I almost wish I could've take more classes on it!
1. GPA stands for "Grade Point Average", which is a numerical measure of the achievement during the International Food & Agribusiness programme. In other words, it is the average of all grade points.